Persuasion & Healing

Jerome Frank published the first edition of this book almost fifty years ago. Its message is still very relevant, perhaps even more relevant today. Psychotherapy is a form of persuasion and healing and as such, shares many features with other ways of influencing found in different cultures. Its essence, therefore, may not be located in the specific techniques that distinguish one brand of "evidence-based" (or not) therapy from another, but in over-riding considerations, such as the power of a given therapist to engender hope, the vividness of the therapist as a modifying vector, the alliance between therapist and patient, the fit between the tools of the therapist and the conceptualizations of the patient. It is important for a therapist to be solidly grounded in one or more theoretical approaches, but this mainly because such grounding increases the probability of the aforementioned influences on change becoming manifest, or strengthens them. This is a politically incorrect book if you subscribe to the limited medical model of psychotherapy presented as the only paradigm in most psychology programs today. However, if you take a longer view, and actually a view better supported by the evidence carefully considered, this book is a standout in the field of psychotherapy theory.

This is an outstanding book for anyone interested in how people think, and how people can change the way they think, feel and relate to others. A wonderful survey of the research literature on psychotherapy, but also a great overview for anyone interested in changing others' attitudes and behavior. The topics are relevant and the authors' writing is succinct, clear and engaging. The models of depression, anxiety, inhibition and psychological change are very helpful to anyone in any of the helping fields.